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I don't know what's going here on with all these Seiko! It's time to end it! SARY056, a real JDM. I totally love it, pimpadelic!

I found this Summit on ebay going for not much £ - just loved the look of it. The hands are beautifully blued. A clean+oil, new mainspring and strap, it's running well and looks great The movement is a 17J A Schild 1130, which would date it to 1955-60, but it looks more modern to me. Anyone heard of Summit ?

I was just getting ready to give my collection of pocket watches their annual wind and I wonder why we ever progressed away from them, very sad really Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

This Hamilton 912 is project I recently completed in May. The movement just needed a good cleaning. The dial was a mess & the case had a lot of dents to remove on the back.I broke out the Dremel to remove the many small scratches . The crystal was badly scratched and plastic, installed a new glass nos crystal.

Now that's just not fair posting things like that to upset me That is absolutely stunning, really like that That summit is a real gem also, unbelievably clean and sharp. Mean while im faced with 3 x brand new Seiko's on my bench which have been drowned in.........WD40 Why lord do people do this

Many here have probably seen this documentary (see below) but some may have not. It's and inspiring account of watchmaking as the highest form of art. I know that I'll never achieve such heights (though perhaps I can still aspire to them?) but it's an inspiration to know that some have reached the pinnacle of our craft. I am proud to participate even in a modest way in care/maintenance/restoration and perhaps some day, maybe, even creation of time pieces.

So after reading umpteen million breitlng posts on other forum groups this seems to be a movement holding ring and is removable although I couldn't find anyone posts on how to remove it all people seemed to say is that it wasn't breitlings best idea they had had for holding a movement inside a case. Also this ring is very hard to find so is the taccy ring so if your going to have a go atvremoving them BE CAREFUL also it seems your crystal should have a tension ring the crystal and thin ring are used to hold the movement in place together.

Good picture. No snagging unless you exaggerate rotating. For a beginner it's better to leave it. Discussion:

Thanks for the help. I was going through the Omega crowns section of the Cousins website where they're all listed by size, but if I can just tell them the case numbers that'd be perfect - I'll give it a try.

Bravo on your perseverance!

Normally when a watch keeps stopping then the watch just needs a complete service & clean. I would personally take the watch to another watch repairer for a second opinion.

An electron microscope.....wow. To do watch repairs?

HI EVERYONE ...I had a Seiko5 SNZG15K1 ...I started playing around with the regulator and bought a timegraph 1000 ... anyways as I was moving the beat lever the hairspring stopped . I removed the spring , wheel and cock and the spring was a mess. I just want to know do these watches come ready to regulate or do you have to turn the brass stay bits on the end that hold the spring ..I think that the spring jumped on mine .but at the time I wasn't thinking straight and ran to disassemble it when I should of looked a bit closer back then ..Thanks Lenny...........

Seiko hairspring are very (insert "very: 5 more times here) delicate. If it is still within repair your best chance is to bring it to a watchmaker to be corrected, otherwise a new balance complete will be needed (out of stock at Cousins at this time). I understand that you are serious having even bought an expensive tool (actually a smartphone app would have been pretty much OK), but to be honest with you I strongly recommend that you practice first with junk movements before moving to the watches that you want to wear or have any value.

Paul, welcome to the forum. first you need magnification to look at very small parts, ( i suggest a "head band magnifier" with replacable lenses) and some practice using tweesers to pick up and move very small parts. vinn

Hello from me. You will find plenty on here. If you are starting out on watch repairing and have little or no experience, get yourself some old pocket watch movements and practice on taking them apart and putting together. Do not buy the fusee type get the spring driven type they are very similar to a wrist watch but much bigger. Also get to know what the parts are called. Buy a good set of watch screwdrivers, a good pair of tweezers and different eyeglasses you will need a few, you might need to practice first in holding an eyeglass.

How do you manage in such a small space.

Hello Paul, I was pretty much in the same situation when I started this hobby two years ago, so I am certainly no professional. This site helped me a lot: http://www.clockmaker.com.au/diy_seiko_7s26/ This is the best free source of structured information I could find so far, together with Esslinger and Mark's video of course... can't wait for his lessons to start later this month by the way ! I spent some time in Seiko modding, there are tons of sites about it. Thanks to these, I now feel confident enough to invest in more expensive parts in order to assemble my first ETA based watch later this summer. About books, I found most of them too advanced. There is one that provides a great deal of background information about watch assembly: https://www.amazon.com/Beginner-Watchmaking-Build-First-Watch/dp/1456451650 True watchmakers will find this book ridiculously easy and sub-quality, but hey, we all need to start somewhere ! Last but not least, I started with inexpensive Chinese and Indian made tools. Over time I got them replaced by German and Swiss made, as I realized how important the tools quality is in terms of reliability, accuracy, comfort...and therefore learning curve ! Cheers, Cédric.

It is a controversial subject within the horology community. Recently I changed from using D5 to HP1300 & I am impressed as it seems to stay where put & being red the amount applied is very visible. I have used 8201 for a while now with no issues so will continue to use. I note that 8301 is for "This is a solid grease particularly for winding mechanisms and springs & slip springs. This grease has a wide range of applications. Same as 8300 but with graphite." No mention of barrels so I will stick with the tried & tested 8201

Quick fix on Philippines watch, got this from watchguy, finally got around to looking at it, broken winding rotor, looks like it just fell apart, think I paid more for shipping anyway checked overall movement 7s36a /cleaned brace, reblackened '60' at top with permanent marker, polished up crystal a bit and running good, like those blue dialed Seikos!

Sumo for you. All pics are mine

Willful, Thanks for mentioning HMT....their handwind movements are quite nice, a copy of a citizen no doubt but a nice movement nonetheless. JDM, thanks for the input on quartz..I usually have problems where coils test good (from a continuity aspect) but still doesn't work. Good that there's a quartz expert here! Anil

Not really, There are only two parts that can fail in quartz watch, and one (the coil) can be diagnosed with a common multi-meter ($10). No more knowledge than turning a knob and reading a display is needed. Sometime the parts are available but if it's a cheap movement as in most cases is, it will just cost few dollars to replace. Quartz watches are easy and fun to learn with, although most collectors and watchmakers look down on them.

Hi Jesmond If you want to learn about watches, taking them apart and putting them back together again... start with a watch that's already working. No point wasting effort on something that may baffle an expert. There are quite a lot of tips and tricks on the internet and Marks videos will give you the confidence to get going. Russian watches are robust and can be had cheaply off the net. You'd want something like ths.... http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xlot+of+russian+movements.TRS0&_nkw=lot+of+russian+movements&_sacat=0 Seller says that the balance is OK and the watch will run if shaken. This is a good sign as it probably means that all it needs is a good clean and oiling. USD 7 for shipping is fair. For these simple watches you will need. 1. A GOOD pair of tweezers.. cheap ones will only frustrate you. I can't stress this strongly enough. 2. Good screwdrivers.. not as critical as tweezers but get some from a watch supply house specially meant for watches. The ones sold in flat plastic cases at general stores is pretty much useless. 3. Lighter fluid to clean parts (ronsonol or zippo works), and a small cup to hold said fluid while cleaning. 4. Pegwood .. this is a special type of wood used to clean watches. You sharpen the tip and use the pointy bit to poke the tiny jewel holes to cean them out. Pegwood is a special wood that won't splinter easily. Don't try to use those cocktail sticks, a splinter in the jewel hole is not good. 5. Rodico. This is a special watchmakers 'plasticine'. Typically green in colour. Faber-castell blutack is the same shade but useless for watches as its too 'oily'. Rodico is a great help for cleaning parts and picking up stuff like cap jewels. 6. Pithwood...another special wood that is used to clean pivots and the tips of your screwdriver/tweezers. Not strictly necessary .. I use Rodico. 7. Oils... you will need a light oil for the jewels (moebius 9010) and something heavier for slower moving wheels (moebius 9020). These oils are expensive so for a beginner you may use some cheaper oils like novastar. Also in the beginning you may find that your 'oiling technique' has not developed fully and you will waste a lot of oil. Finally 8. A good data-plan, help is just a click away on this site! Mechanical watches are good to learn on because they're ...well.., mechanical!. (I assume you have a bit of mechanical apptitude otherwise you wouldn't be bothered to walk down this road). Problem with quartz is that troubleshooting is only viable if you have the electronic equipment and the knowledge to use them. Once you've identified the problem, chances are the part is not available individually and you would need to replace the whole movement anyway. Personally I can get easily understand how any mechanical device works and even if I can't fix it at least I have a good idea of what wet wrong. But anything more complex than a DC motor I'd probably need help! I realize that the comments you have been getting may be a bit discouraging but it's done with the best intent. Hopefully you will find the same gratification in this hobby that most of us have! Looking forward to hear more from you. Anil

Thanks for the replies and the replies. The main thing is I've got watches to take apart and study at an affordable and these, regardless of quality or lack thereof, fit the bill. There seems to be little, if any, tampering on the watches though I could be wrong, hopefully they are as genuine as I first thought. Even if they're not they'll serve the purpose I got them for, though I think I'll leave the Armani till I think I can restore it properly just in case. I'll certainly be bearing all your advice in mind and taking it seriously when I look for my next batch.

For starters, the movements you may want to lock on to learn and the ones I've seen mostly recommended by people in the know -- and some others that don't know that much, mainly me! - are, not necessarily in this order: Seiko 7S26, ETA 6498, ETA 2801 and any other variations by family of those movements. (eg. Seiko 7S26 can be 7S36, ETA 6498 comes also in ETA 6497, ETA 2801 varies into 2824, 2836, etc) Cheers, Bob

I actually use a mic from some ear buds. This works very well. All you meet is three positions and you can rubber band the mic to the back of the watch and simply position the movement. Cut the ear bud wire off after the mic and you are set